13 Students Shot Dead at Party In Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

It is incredible to think that such violence like this is happening literally down the street and across a river from me:

GUNMEN drove up to a house where a high school party was in full swing and opened fire killing 13 people and wounding 17 others in Mexico’s murder capital, Ciudad Juarez.

Most of the victims were “youngsters”, the Chihuahua state attorney general’s office said.

Witnesses said the gunmen drove up to the house in several cars, first shooting at people gathered outside the dwelling, then pursuing some of the youngsters who jumped over a fence to get away.

“A young man was celebrating his birthday with his schoolmates … and when the host of the party came out to drop off his girlfriend” the shooting broke out, a neighbour said.

Local press reports said the party host’s father was among the dead.

Other sources said the young people were members of a local soccer team celebrating a championship victory, the Reforma daily said on its website.

The shooting took place in Ciudad Juarez, the city on the border with the US state of Texas that holds Mexico’s record in bloodshed, with more than 2500 people killed last year in drug-related gangland crimes.

It was the third mass shooting of youngsters in Mexico since September when, within two weeks, 28 youths were killed in two separate shootings at drug rehabilitation centres. [AFP]

The violence that continues to go on down in Juarez is getting worse and only the mass murders like this seem to make big headlines.  However, nearly every night I watch the local news before going to bed and it has near daily reports about executions, hangings, beheadings, etc. happening in Juarez.  This recent mass killing will eventually be forgotten as the news cycle moves on, but for those of us who live in El Paso this is just business as usual in Juarez.